Grainger Captures Carol Weymuller Crown

Top seed Natalie Grainger beat England's Jenny Duncalf in the final of the Women's Carol Weymuller US Open Squash Championship to win the WISPA Gold event at Heights Casino in Brooklyn, New York.

The 30-year-old from Washington DC not only becomes the first US winner of the Carol Weymuller title since the inaugural event in 1993, but - since the event was also merged with the US Open this year - she has also reclaimed her country's national open title since winning it for the first time two years ago.

Grainger continued where she left off in the semi-finals - delivering another scintillating performance. The Pan American Games champion began the match at an incredible pace, with early volleys which took Duncalf by surprise, culminating in a 9-3 first game.

From the beginning of the second game, fifth seed Duncalf started to challenge the favourite by using a mixture of pace and better movement - and also constructed rallies with more patience.

In the third game, Duncalf clawed her way back into the game from 3-6 down to six-all. "All of a sudden it looked as if she was going to make another one of her amazing come backs that we witnessed the night before against Vanessa (Atkinson)," said tournament organiser Fiona Geaves.

"But, once again, Natalie remained calm and totally focused and took the game."

The 9-3, 9-4, 9-6 victory earns Grainger her fifth WISPA World Tour title this year on home soil - and the 16th